Camping should be a required activity. We should all have to get out of town and away from the busy hustle and bustle of life and spend a night outside...at least once a month. What a delight it is. What refreshment it brings. How our souls rejoice in being in God's beautiful creation. I love it.

Last weekend we ventured out on our inaugural camping journey of the summer and of Evie's life! What an experience! We had a great time.

Several key points made this a successful camping trip:

1. Superb location.

You may recall that last August, the Angeles National Forrest was on fire - literally burning up. The beautiful recreational land surrounding our home was nearly destroyed. Because of that horrific event, the main highway into the forrest is closed. However, past the charred section of the forrest, campgrounds and trails remain open - they are just much more difficult to get to and most of the LA population assumes that they are unreachable. Luckily I have a camping savvy husband who was able to navigate around these road closures and get us to a beautiful campground up in the forrest - Buckhorn Campground. If you had just opened your eyes upon reaching the campground, you would have concluded that you were in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado...snow covered peaks, huge evergreen and redwood trees, a babbling brook running through the sites...it was perfect!

****I must interject here and give myself some credit...

Andrew had to work all morning on Friday and the sites were first come first serve.

Therefore, we had to leave ASAP when he got off. This left me to dig out all the camping

stuff, pack for the 3 of us, and load the car. Not only that, but we had to make an

unexpected stop at the dr's office for E and stop at 2 different stores to get propane and

pancake mix...all before picking Andrew up at 2 and getting on the road. Mission

accomplished. I was pretty proud.

2. Adequate food.

Last summer, we drove across the country. I must admit, I failed a bit in food preparations on that trip. There is nothing worse then hiking and being outside all day and still being hungry after a measly dinner. The best part of camping is the food! This time around, I had an ample selection of treats and recipes and we ate well. For dinner, I made pasta with mint and peas...delicious! We also sampled some delights from Katie Novak's kitchen :) Having good food makes all the difference.

3. A happy babe - for the most part. Evie loved being outside! She had a great time sitting in her seat and watching the fire, looking up at the big blue sky, and listening to the birds chirp. She loved hiking and being in the bjorn on Andrew - she loves looking around and checking this big world out!

She did not, however, like sleeping in the tent so much. We awoke most of the campground at 12 am when she screamed for an hour...yikes. Stressful. Besides her one incident, E did well and slept on and off from then on. It was a long night but well worth it. We must also remember that the poor girl is working on some teeth and can't be held responsible for her actions because of the pain she is in. More camping is in Evie's future, for sure.

Although we only stayed one night, both Andrew and I were very much refreshed from this camping adventure. We felt like summer had finally arrived and that we were able to relax and take a deep breathe. A night away, listening to crickets and indulging in smores, was just what we needed.

a happy Andrew

Ahh....summer....